This month, KRCU is offering listeners holiday programming for all ears now through New Years’ Eve. From American Public Media, NPR, WFMT, and even from the desks of some of our local hosts, you’ll hear everything from African-American spirituals to Ashkenazi music, Pink Martini to Gaby Moreno, and classic carols both new and old. This year, we’ll also have the widely beloved Tinsel Tales from NPR: Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. Grab your hot cocoa and listen anywhere on your radio, smartphone, computer, or smart speaker.
Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir | Thursday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m.
The world-renowned Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics. Hosted by Julie Amacher, this warm, nostalgic holiday celebration will feature a choir of 360 voices, a 150-piece orchestra at Temple Square, the 32-member Bells on Temple Square, along with other artists and special guests. A 600-person cast will share a stunningly beautiful mix of carols in various unique arrangements.
Hollywood Holiday | Thursday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m.
Join Lynne Warfel, host of American Public Media’s Saturday Cinema and Flicks in Five, for a festive one-hour musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished films inspired by Dickens’ classic character, Ebenezer Scrooge.
Lindsey's Christmas Special | Tuesday, Dec. 17 from 1-3 p.m.
Hosted by KRCU’s Lindsey Grojean, local musicians from Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus gift their time and talents for a Christmas-filled episode of Afternoon Classics. Not only will you hear on-location recordings, but popular Christmas tunes from people such as Michael Bublé and Bing Crosby, too. Whether you know them personally or not, you may feel a sense of pride just knowing that what you're hearing is a performance by a musician from your area.
A Chanticleer Christmas | Thursday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m.
Celebrate the season with song! Brian Newhouse hosts this one-hour program of a cappella holiday favorites presented live in concert by Chanticleer, the superb 12-man choral ensemble known as "an orchestra of voices."
Welcome Christmas! | Thursday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.
This is a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world’s premiere choral groups. John Birge hosts an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest. For 2019, hear the world premiere of Nico Muhly's "The Faire Starre," a nativity cantata that draws on 17th century metaphysical poets and is set in the unique, eclectic style that has earned Nico Muhly raves from the Metropolitan Opera.
Candles Burning Brightly | Monday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m.
Mindy Ratner will host this encore celebration of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. "Candles Burning Brightly" explores the meaning and traditions of Chanukah, including holiday foods and Sephardic and Ashkenazi music.
A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago A Capella | Monday, Dec. 23 at 2 p.m.
The Chicago A Cappella has produced an hour-long radio special for the WFMT Fine Arts Network, called A Chanukah Celebration with Chicago A Cappella. Hosted by artistic director, Jonathan Miller, the program includes performances of Chanukah music from the ensemble's concert and CD recordings over the last 15 years.
Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs | Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 11 a.m.
Hosted by NPR’s Korva Coleman, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation, get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. This encore presentation features the best works of the last several years. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols.
Festivo Alt.Latino: Gaby Moreno in Concert | Tuesday, Dec. 24 at noon
NPR Music's Alt.Latino presents a 2015 encore featuring songwriter and performer Gaby Moreno and her band performing tracks from her popular holiday album Posada. Recorded live at the KUT studios in Austin, Texas, she was joined by special guests Gina Chavez, Chicano Zen and bandleader and record producer Michael Ramos.
St. Olaf Christmas Special | Tuesday, Dec. 24 from 1-3 p.m.
This service in song and word has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra. Valerie Kahler shares the sights and sounds of this choral favorite.
A Christmas Carol | Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 7 p.m.
A radio adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, produced by KRCU Public Radio.
Caffe Concerto Christmas Day | Wednesday, Dec. 25 from 11-1 p.m.
KRCU's Tom Harte dishes out his favorite holiday tunes.
Music of the Baroque Holiday Concert | Wednesday, Dec. 25 from 1-3 p.m.
Tinsel Tales | Wednesday, Dec. 25 at 7 p.m.
In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the third collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places. Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh, Nina Totenberg and other voices from NPR's past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
An Afro Blue Christmas | Thursday, Dec. 26 at 11 a.m.
Join us for a very special holiday concert with Howard University's premiere vocal ensemble Afro Blue, and special guest pianist Cyrus Chestnut. The a cappela group performs a variety of holiday songs including African-American spirituals, jazz and pop tunes, and classical repertoire. The joyous celebration includes one of a kind arrangements of traditional holiday songs plus new compositions... music perfect for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. Hosted by Michele Norris.
Joy to the World: A Holiday in Pink | Thursday, Dec. 26 at noon
The internationally acclaimed “little orchestra" Pink Martini presents festive holiday songs from across the globe. From timeless classics to rarely heard gems, hear a multi-denominational, multi-cultural jubilee, overflowing with enough holiday spirit to warm your entire family. Hosted by All Things Considered’s Ari Shapiro.
A Very Lit Christmas with Lindsey Christmas | Thursday, Dec. 26 from 1-3 p.m.
Hosted by KRCU's Lindsey Grojean.
A Paul Winter Solstice Concert Celebration | Tuesday, Dec. 31 from 1-3 p.m.
Paul Winter’s Winter Solstice celebrates the spirit of the holidays within the extraordinary acoustics of New York’s greatest Cathedral. The event features musicians of the Paul Winter Consort, vocalists, dancers and drummers. A dazzling extravaganza of music and dance, the performances offer a contemporary take on ancient solstice rituals, when people gathered together on the longest night of the year to welcome the return of the sun and the birth of the new year. Broadcast on National Public Radio for the past 27 years, hosted by WNYC’s John Schaefer, the Celebrations have become New York’s favorite holiday alternative to The Nutcracker and Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular. This year marks the 40th year for the event, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Paul Winter Consort. The Winter Solstice special guest will be singer/songwriter and activist Noel Paul Stookey, best-known as a member of the famed folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Stookey was the producer of the Paul Winter Consort’s first two albums, in 1968 and 1969, and has been a key mentor and collaborator during those first 50 years of the band. Gospel singer Theresa Thomason, a beloved favorite of past Winter Solstice Celebrations, will also be featured, and the 10-member Paul Winter Consort will be joined once again by the 25 dancers and drummers of the Forces of Nature Dance Theatre.